The main objective of the household budget survey is to get reliable and scientifically founded data on the income, expenditure, consumption and other elements of the living standard of the population as well as changes which have occurred during the years.

· Household income includes all receipts of the household and its members during the surveyed period. The income is estimate in total and monetary form. Monetary income includes regular receipts from: wages and salaries, other earnings, entrepreneurship, property, pensions, social benefits, regular inter-household transfers, as well as sale of property and other irregular receipts. Total income includes monetary and valued income in kind.

· Household expenditure includes all resources spend by the household and its members during the surveyed period. The expenditures are estimated in total and monetary form. Monetary expenditure includes consumer expenditure on foods and non-alcoholic beverages; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; clothing and footwear; housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels; furnishing and maintenance of the house; health; transport; communication; recreation, culture and education; miscellaneous goods and services; as well as taxes, social insurance, regular intro-household transfers and other non-consumer expenditure. Total expenditure includes monetary and valued expenditure in kind.

Variables of household incomes and expenditures are estimated average per household and per person and as structure.

Household consumption includes the quantities of main foods and beverages consumed at home. The catering data are not included. The variables are estimated by the household budget survey are calculated by balance method and are presented average per person.

Housing conditions variables are: type of dwelling, number of rooms, availability of water supply system, sewerage, electricity, bath and toilet.

The Household Budget Survey is a sample survey by implementation of two stage cluster. The general population from which the sample for the survey is formed comprises all the households in the country. Institutional households are not studied by the household budget survey. The unit of observation is every randomly chosen ordinary household irrespective of the number of members and their material and personal status. The sample size for the 2002 - 2009 period is 3000 households and since 2010 ?. - 3060 households each quarter.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Gross income

Gross household income is aggregated value of all regular incomes of the household and its members during the surveyed period from wages and salaries, other earnings, entrepreneurship, property, pensions, social benefits and regular inter-household transfers.

Net income

Net household income is calculated from gross income after deduction of tax and contribution to social insurance.

Consumer expenditure

The consumer expenditure of a household includes the expenditure done by the household for satisfaction of the necessities of the household as a whole or some household members.

Household

A private household consists of two or more persons living in a dwelling or part of dwelling and sharing common budget, having their meals together, no matter relatives or not.

One person living in a dwelling, separate room or part of room on his/her own budget also is considered a household.

Equivalent unit

For calculation of poverty indicators the total equivalised net income is used. The equivalence scales are applied to correct income for the household composition. The OECD modified scale is used giving a weight of 1.0 to the first member of the household aged 14 or more, 0.5 to each additional member aged 14 or more and 0.3 to each member aged less than 14 years old. The total net household income is divided by the equivalence scale that weights different members within the household with different weights according to their ages and the result is the total equivalised net income.

Statistical unit

Household (ordinary household).

Statistical population

The general population from which the sample is formed comprises all ordinary households in the country.

Institutional households are not studied by the HBS.

Reference area

According to the Classification of territorial units for statistical purposes in Bulgaria (NUTS).

· Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Confidentiality - data treatment

Individual data are not published in accordance with article 25 of the Law on Statistics. The publishing of individual data can be performed only in accordance with article 26 of the same law.

Release policy

Release calendar

Dates for release are defined in the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute. Quarterly data on household income, expenditure and consumption is available 45 days after the reference period and annual data ? in April of the year following the reference year.

Data is published on the NSI website, section Households Income and Expenditure in accordance with the Law on Statistics and the European Statistics Code of Practice respecting the professional independence and aimed at objectivity, transparency and equal treatment of all consumers.

Frequency of dissemination

Monthly (to 2009), Quarterly (since 2010), Annual

Accessibility and clarity

News release

Household income, expenditure and consumption ? quarterly and yearly

Publications

· Publication "Household Budgets in the Republic of Bulgaria" - detailed annual data for different household groups (by place of residence, by number of household members, by number of employed persons, by number of children under 18, by total annual income per person in the household, by presence of pensioners, by professional and economic status of the household head, by decile groups);

· Booklet ?Household Budget Survey?;

· General Publications of the NSI.

On-line database

Detailed results on Household Budgets are available to all users of the NSI website under the heading Households Income and Expenditure: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/5640

Micro-data access

Anonymised individual data can be provide for scientific and research purposes, and for individual request according to the Rules for the provision of anonymised individual data for scientific and research purposes.

Other

Information service on request, according to the Rules for the dissemination of statistical products and services in NSI.

National quality reports for 2005 and 2010. Eurostat?s quality report of the Household Budget Surveys in EU countries, 2005.

Quality management

Quality assurance

Through checking on field work and control of the thoroughness of the records in the diaries.

Quality assessment

Relevance

User needs

The data is of interest to a wide number of users - state authorities, public and international organizations (Eurostat, UN, UNICEF, ILO, etc), students and others.

User satisfaction

No user' satisfaction surveys are carried out.

Completeness

Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

Maximal errors of main variables are between 2-5%.

Sampling error

The data are burdened with a certain stochastic error due to the sample character of the survey. The sampling errors calculated for main variables are published in annual publication "Household Budgets in the Republic of Bulgaria".

Non-sampling error

The number of replacements of the households and the reasons that the households do not take part in the survey are described in the methodological notes in the publication ?Household budgets in the Republic of Bulgaria?.

Timeliness and punctuality

Timeliness

Quarterly data are published 45 days after the reference period.

Annual data are published in April of the year following the reference year.

Punctuality

The terms in 15.1 are observed.

Coherence and comparability

Comparability - geographical

Not applicable.

Comparability - over time

Long time series.

Coherence - cross domain

Household expenditure survey is in accordance with the following surveys: Consumer Price Indices, National Accounts, Purchasing Power Parity.

Coherence - internal

Cost and burden

Every household receive 20 BGN per month of participation. It take part in the survey 4 months per year, average 2-3 hour per month.

Data revision

Data revision - policy

Not applicable.

Data revision - practice

Not applicable.

Statistical processing

Source data

Main documents of the Household budget survey are:

· Household dairy;

· Five questionnaires.

Frequency of data collection

Monthly (to 2009), quarterly (since 2010)

Data collection

The households keep a regular record in the Household Diary on:

· monetary and in-kind receipts, since 2010 and some irregular incomes for previous two months;

· monetary and in-kind expenditure, since 2010 and some irregular expenditures for previous two months.

The interviewers visit the household twice a month. During these visits they have a detailed conversation with the members of the household, check the completeness and reliability of the data entered into the diary and questionnaries.

Data validation

Logical control of data is happened at the time when the information is introduced.

The average quarterly total income average per household member during the second quarter of 2011 is 940 Levs or by 3.8% more compared to the same quarter of 2010. The main part of this income (82.5%) is received from wages and salaries and pensions.

The total expenditure per household member during the second quarter of 2011 is 870 Levs and it increases by 8.2% in relation to the same quarter of 2010. Expenditure on food and housing (energy, fuel and water) has the greatest share in forming the total expenditure and constitute 49.5% of total expenditure.

The consumption of main food products average per household member capita doesn’t change during the second quarter of 2011 compared to the second quarter of 2010.

The average annual income per household member in 2010 is 3 812 BGN or 1.4% less compared to 2009. Greater part of the income - 95.7% is received as current revenue from wages, pensions, social assistance benefits, child allowances as well as from entrepreneurship and sales of property. The rest of the total income reported - 4.3% is due to loans, credits and savings.

The average quarterly total income average per household member during the fourth quarter of 2010 is 924 Levs or by 3.7% less compared to the same quarter of 2009. The main part of this income (82.6%) is received from wages and salaries and pensions. The tendency of increase in pensions persists in similar terms as noted in comparative analyses from past periods. A nominal decrease in wages is registered. Wages and salaries continue to be the main source of household income.

The average quarterly total income average per household member during the third quarter of 2010 is 932 Levs or by 2.2% less compared to the same quarter of 2009. The main part of this income (80.7%) is received from wages and salaries and pensions. The tendency of increase in pensions persists in similar terms as noted in comparative analyses from past periods. A nominal decrease in wages is registered.

Pages

The National Statistical Institute presents to the attention of users of statistical information "Bulgaria:The Challenges of Poverty" - a new publication in English which is a result of the Multipurpose Household Survey in Bulgaria carried out during 2003 by the NSI and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with the assistance of the World Bank. The main objective of the survey was to collect versatile, relevant and multilateral information on living conditions and poverty in the country.